


somwhere, anywhere, far away

by hazelhyucks



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Coming of Age, Established Relationship, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, Running Away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelhyucks/pseuds/hazelhyucks
Summary: Jeno and Jaemin were only seventeen when they took off in the ravenette’s older sister’s convertible, leaving behind their shitty families, shitty friends and shitty society.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 49
Collections: NOMIN FAN WEEK





	somwhere, anywhere, far away

Jaemin doodled in his notebook, head laid on his arm against the desk, waiting for the lesson to start. across the expanse of the milky-white paper, pink chrysanthemums and glimmering stars trailed the margin. A small smile sat on the boy's face.

Once in a while, the classroom door squeaked open and revealed an arriving student. The honey-haired boy checked each time it did, but so far, none of them was the boy Jaemin hoped to see.

Until the door clicked open once again, and came the sound of thudding sneakers Jaemin could recognise anywhere. His orbs flicked up to meet the other male’s familiar black irises. They kept the contact for a tenth of a second, before they flicked their eyes away again. 

“Jeno, what up, man?”

“Great, Sunwoo-ah! you?”

Jaemin made sure to casually drape his left arm on the edge of his table, and Jeno made sure to lightly brush the back of his fingertips across it as he strode through the aisle.

All of it went unnoticed by their classmates.

Then their english teacher entered the classroom and started their lesson; jaemin returned to doodling pretty chrysanthemums and stars in his notebook. 

<>

“Jaemin hyung! Can i have some of your fries?”

“of course, Chenle-ah. Here.” Jaemin scooped a portion of his french fries and dropped it onto Chenle’s tray.

The rest of their table continued to eat their lunch, with Haechan rambling about some incident that happened in his chemistry class, which Jaemin didn't bother to pay any mind to.

Suddenly, Jisung pointed something out, “Hey, Jaemin. that Hyun-ae girl is staring at you.”

At the younger male's words, the mentioned boy raised his head and spotted a group of girls a few tables away from them, with one of them, as stated, staring at Jaemin. 

Upon making eye contact, Hyun-ae immediately looked away with a red blush sporting her cheeks and ears. 

“She clearly likes you. why won’t you make a move on her?” Donghyuck said.

“Yeah, she’s pretty cute. I don’t get why you’re not chasing after her or something.” Chenle chimed in.

Jaemin let out a practiced laugh. “She’s just not my type, guys.”

“What _is_ your type? I feel like no girl can ever satisfy you,” Haechan replied while rolling his eyes.

“They _can_. You’re just spewing nonsense,” the male lied.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I-uhm…i like them…a little…bigger?”

“What do you mean bigger, hyung?” Jisung asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“Do you seriously mean what i’m thinking, Nana?” Donghyuck questioned with a skeptic look.

Jaemin gulped. His palms started to sweat and his heartbeat quickened.

“Didn’t know you were into those kind of things. You like girls with big boobs, don’t you?”

Jaemin released a sigh internally. That could’ve gone worse, he decided.

“Yeah uhm...yeah. That’s my thing, I guess. Big b-boobs.” Jaemin managed to say without puking.

“Ew, hyung. Seriously?” Chenle whined.

Donghyuck sniggered, “Leave him alone, stupid. he’s going through puberty. you won’t understand.”

“But he’s only one year older than me! He’s literally seventeen and I’m sixteen!”

“Shush! don’t ruin my lunch.”

Chenle gave in and went back to munching on his french fries. Jaemin ate his way through the rest of lunch with a forced smile on his face. 

<>

Jaemin kept his head down as he walked towards the abandoned building where he would be meeting up with someone.

Coming up to the run-down gray building, jaemin crossed its driveway before quietly sliding its wide door open. 

Inside, he was met with the familiar smell of metal and dust. and a familiar boy sitting by the window with a familiar guitar in his hands, moonlight spilling ethereally onto his face.

Jaemin smiled at him and Jeno smiled back. 

The honey-haired boy made his way to the end of the building, where Jeno was leaning against the wall by a wide window. 

The ravenette put his guitar away and took Jaemin into his arms instead. 

“I missed you, you know?” Jaemin pouted and planted a kiss on his boyfriend's lips.

“I missed you, too, love. Oh! I have-” Jeno cut himself off by digging into his jeans' pocket.

Jaemin patiently waited and instantly softened when he saw the older male pulled out a crumpled-looking orange chrysanthemum. 

“It got a little crushed...” Jeno commented while awkwardly scratching his nape, “B-but i saw them in a neighbour’s garden...and I know how much you like them...so I jumped the fence...”

“You jumped a stranger’s fence to pick a single chrysanthemum?”

“I’m sorry, Jaeminnie. I was supposed to get a bunch, but then this really scary-looking pit-bull showed up and it started barking...and then I ran...”

The younger giggled, ruffling his lover’s already messy hair. “You’re adorable, you know that right?”

“Anyway, now you have two of your most favourite things in the world: chrysanthemums...and stars,” Jeno gestured to the diamonds glinting down at them from the inky sky.

“ _Three_ of my favourite things in the world, actually,” the boy corrected, smiling joyously.

The ravenette made a confused sound.

“Chrysanthemums, stars...and you,” Jaemin booped Jeno’s nose.

The older blushed. 

“Jen?"

"Hmm?"

"You know, I think my friends are starting to get suspicious of me for not dating any girls yet.” 

The boy immediately frowned, “Fuck your friends, Jaemin. I just want to show you off to the world.” Jeno pulled out a pout and a pair of puppy eyes.

“Trust me, baby. I want to, too. But my dad would actually kill me if he finds out I’m gay,” the boy sighed exasperatedly.

“My father would kill me, too. If he found out.”

“The whole school would kill us.”

“The whole town would kill us.”

“And if they find out, where off to?”

Jeno placed a butterfly kiss on the latter’s forehead. Jaemin could feel his smile on his skin after.

“A place where stars fall onto the ground and chrysanthemums bloom all-year-round.”

It’s Jeno’s turn to feel his boyfriend’s smile on his collarbones. 

“A place where stars fall onto the ground and chrysanthemums bloom all-year-round,” Jaemin confirmed.

The honey-haired boy buried himself deeper into the other boy's chest.

The ravenette’s hands came up to gently rub against the lightning bolts across the other male's arm.

Jeno bent down to the stretch marks and kissed each insecurity away.

Because with thunder tearing across his skin, Jaemin could climb all the steepest mountains.

Jeno kissed Jaemin’s cheeks. With moon craters blotting his face, Jaemin could swim through all the roaring oceans.

Jeno kissed his narrow chest. With the whole universe on his shoulders, Jaemin was the strongest boy alive.

Jeno pulled away to look at the latter.

But with the stars in his eyes—

“You’re the most beautiful boy in the world.”

"And you're the sweetest boy in the world," Jaemin beamed back.

The younger snuggled into the ravenette's neck again.

They stay like that for a while, with Jeno leaning against the wall and Jaemin leaning against Jeno, with their arms around each other’s torsos and their legs around each other’s waists.

Nothing else mattered at the moment to Jeno and Jaemin – not their homophobic parents, not their homophobic school, not their homophobic society – because Jaemin had the love of his life in his arms, and that was enough.

Because if the stars were willing to keep shining and the crickets were willing to keep chirping for them to continue living, then that was enough for Jaemin to keep on loving Jeno. 

<>

Jaemin didn’t notice. 

Not when he walked down the hallway; not when he entered his classroom; not through his whole history lesson; not through second and third period. 

All the staring eyes went unnoticed. 

That was until lunch.

“Jaemin, did you hear about what’s going around?”

“Hmm? No. What’s it about?” Jaemin asked as he sat down, completely oblivious.

“That you and Lee Jeno are dating.”

Jaemin felt his throat go dry and blood run cold. His eyes widened and he froze.

“W-what? That’s not true! They d-don’t even have e-evidence.”

“They do, actually. There are pictures circulating of you and Jeno kissing through the window of the empty building at the corner of the street.”

That’s when the honey-haired boy realised the disgusted looks on his friends' faces, but that was the last thing he was worried about in that moment.

“Fuck,” Jaemin swore, “How long have you guys known?”

“Since this morning.”

“Holy fuck.”

At once, he fished for his phone from his pocket and switched it on. 

His throat felt like sandpaper and the room suddenly didn’t have enough oxygen.

“I didn’t know you were a fag, jaemin.”

Surely, there were two messages at the top of his notifications.

**_Dad_ **

We need to talk

**_D_ _ad_ **

After school

“Holy fuck,” Jaemin cursed again.

His mind was whirring and it was starting to get extremely difficult to breathe.

Then came those familiar thumps of footsteps that Jaemin knew were from those maroon trainers.

Jaemin’s head whipped toward the sound, and five hundred pairs of eyes followed him as Jeno swiftly ran to Jaemin’s table. It was the first time Jaemin had seen him today. 

And it was an abnormal sight indeed for the school. Because to everyone else, Jeno and Jaemin didn’t know each other. They didn’t talk to each other nor did they even bat at an eye at each other, much less approach each other in the cafeteria. 

The honey-haired boy stood up from his seat and they met face-to-face.

“Did your parents see?” was the first thing Jeno said to Jaemin, in front of all the orbs and ears in the cafeteria. 

Jaemin answered in distress, “Yeah. my dad texted. you?”

“Both of my parents and my sister texted. they saw,” Jeno sighed. 

“I’m so sorry, love,” Jeno said, his eyes glimmering with tears that were threatening to spill.

“Don’t be,” Jaemin grabbed onto Jeno’s arms and stared into his eyes, “Look. okay, so-”

Jeno wiped his eyes on his sleeve and cut him off, “Tonight. i’ll pick you up. What time? What’s the signal?”

“They might confiscate my phone. So if it’s past ten thirty and i still haven’t called yet, then that’s your signal.”

“Okay. I’ll take my sister’s car.”

“Baby, won’t you miss your family, though?”

Jeno only gave him a lopsided smile. “Yeah, the most i can do is miss them. but without you, jaemin, i might just die.”

Jaemin smiled back and pecked his lips. None of them cared about who saw and who thought what.

Jeno added, “But hey, who knows? they might accept you. we’ll just see.”

“Right,” Jaemin offered his boyfriend a soothing smile, “We’ll just see.”

<>

Right after Jaemin slammed the door, he rushed to grab a duffel bag, then running to his closet to stuff in as much clothes as he could as silently as he could. He filled two other bags with clothes and one bag entirely with snacks and candies. He pondered on sneaking into the kitchen to grab some healthier foods, but decided against it as it would be too risky.

In his last bag, Jaemin managed to squish in two pillows and two wallets stuffed with all the money he earned from working part-time jobs. 

When Jaemin was done packing up necessities, he pushed all the duffel bags under his bed, just in case his parents entered the room (his door also didn’t have a lock).

Next, he moved to tear out a page from a notebook and scribbled his mother a note. Then he sat himself down on his bed and let out a long breath he didn't know he was holding.

All he had to do now was wait.

Just wait. 

<>

_Dear Ma,_

_I’ll miss you,_

_but maybe, without me_

_you’ll finally be able to break it off with Pa._

_You are who you are. and your dreams are valid and will always be valid._

_Don’t let Pa stop you._

_Be the writer you’ve always wanted to become._

_I'll make sure to buy and read all your books._

_But right now, ma,_

_I have to go live my own dreams and chase my own goals._

_But i know one day i’m going to see your books in the bestsellers_

_of bookstores._

_Don’t keep them waiting._

_Show the world who you are._

_And remember that i will always love you no matter what._

_\- Your son, Jaemin_

Just in time, Jaemin heard the low rumble of a car rounding the corner.

He glanced at the digital clock on his desk. It displayed ‘10:45 P.M.’.

All of his bags were already moved onto his bed after lights out.

Jaemin walked to his open window to peer down, and surely, there was Jeno, staring up at him from his sister’s convertible, the top let down.

The honey-haired boy paced back and took a hold of one of the five duffel bags. When he stepped back to his window, Jeno was already out of his car and standing right below him. The younger bent down as low as possible before carefully dropping his bag into Jeno’s arms to avoid making any loud noises.

He moved back to his bed and they worked smoothly until the third bag. 

When stooping to hand over his baggage, he had accidentally, very loudly, kicked the leg of his desk which was beside the window. Jaemin’s heart skipped three beats, and so did Jeno’s, below him. They both paused to try to catch any sounds. 

Then Jaemin heard a thud and multiple footsteps. 

The younger didn’t even care anymore if he was loud, as he scrambled to grab the fourth bag. He didn’t care either where he threw it when he tossed it down to the latter. His heart pounded crazily in his ribs as Jaemin ran back for his fifth bag. 

The thumping footsteps were getting closer. Jaemin heavily regretted not pushing a shelf against his door, or just even placing a chair.

“Why are you so noisy, you stupid child?”

Jaemin ran as fast as he could to his window and threw his last bag down to the ground. Jeno below him was scurrying, rapidly trying to throw all the bags that have landed on the ground into the convertible.

Then Jaemin climbed out of his window and onto the sloping bit of roofing attached to it. 

By now, all the baggage was in the vehicle, and jeno was firmly standing underneath the latter, all arms outstretched. 

Jaemin’s door knob rattled.

“Jaemin, jump!”

Jaemin’s door burst open.

Jaemin jumped. 

Off his roof and into his boyfriend’s arms. 

They both let out an ‘oof’ at the impact, but they didn’t have the time to comfortably recover.

Jaemin heard his mother’s surprised gasp.

“Come back here, you faggot!" Jaemin heard his father's scream.

Jaemin leaped over the car door and landed face first into the back seat, and Jeno almost fell out of the vehicle again as he jumped from the passenger’s side all the way to the driver’s seat and crashed into the door.

They were lucky Jeno wasn’t stupid enough to turn off the engine. Jeno immediately stepped on the accelerator and they lurched forward. 

Jaemin had the time to turn back and take one last look at his parents. the boy held up a proud middle finger to his father, who was angrily yelling out a string of curses, and gave his mother, next to the former, the brightest, happiest grin.

“Goodbye, Ma!”

And as they turned round the corner, jaemin was sure he caught the smallest smile on his mother’s lips. 

<>

After a couple of hours, when jeno thought they were far enough, the ravenette drove off-track into a forest, where they would be spending their first night. it was also their first time sleeping together. 

After they rolled all the car windows down and soaked themselves with mosquito repellent, they got comfortable in the backseat, where they pulled a thick comforter Jeno had brought around the both of them. 

The night breeze blew in and out while Jaemin laid beside Jeno's heartbeat.

They were in the middle of a forest sleeping in a car that smelled of alcohol and weed, yet everything about this moment made jaemin smile ear-to-ear in the dark. 

Because Jeno was holding Jaemin in his arms and Jeno’s legs were slotted in between Jaemin’s legs; and that was enough for the younger to be the happiest man alive.

"I love you," Jaemin whispered in the wind.

And he did. Too much. 

Jaemin loved Jeno too much. Jaemin wanted to spend the rest of his sunsets with Jeno. Jaemin wanted to give the rest of his kisses to Jeno. Jaemin wanted to wake up the rest of his mornings next to Jeno.

And at the age of seventeen, it was a lot to want. But it was fine. Because Jeno wanted it, too. 

It was okay because Jeno loved Jaemin too much, too.

"I love you, too."

The honey-haired realised this was how it was like to live for another human being. Because it was what you do when you had nothing to lose but each other.

Jeno was all Jaemin got now, and Jaemin was all Jeno had. 

<>

Jaemin thought, almost knew, that the fire, the adrenaline, would rush out when they realised what they, as some stupid teenagers had just done. 

But it didn’t. 

Not on the second night, or the third, or the fourth, or the twelfth. 

Not when they arrived, for the first time in their lives, in the radiant city of Seoul. If only, it just grew bigger when the older boy turned on his phone for the first time in eleven days, and discovered a huge amount of money sent in from jeno’s older sister's bank account. 

Jeno had said it was great and that it would be enough for a cheap rental apartment and food while they got secretly enrolled in school by Jeno’s sister and worked half-time jobs.

There were times when life seemed to get too overwhelming and it mentally tired both boys out. There were definitely difficult problems and pains they had to overcome. But no, the fire didn’t die down then, either.

Not then and not now. 

Not now as Jaemin’s walking down the aisle, pink chrysanthemums tucked into his hair, matching with his pink and white suit, a short white veil on his head and a bouquet of flowers in his fingers. 

When they come face to face with each other, they can’t help but break out into uncontrollable smiles.

At this very moment Jaemin is looking at Jeno, black hair styled up from his forehead and light makeup bringing out his cheekbones and jawline, Jaemin sees seventeen-year-old Jeno holding a guitar by the window, moonlight streaming onto his face. 

Jaemin still loves him the same.

“Do you, Lee Jeno, take Na Jaemin who you have promised to love and cherish to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“Fuck yeah, i do.”

Jaemin as well as the guests laugh.

“And do you, na jaemin, take lee jeno who you have promised to love and cherish to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“Always.”

“You may now kiss the groom.”

And as Jeno scoops Jaemin into his arms and locks their lips, so familiar yet so new, Jaemin feels another fire fuel inside of him – of whispered promises and butterfly kisses, and of pink chrysanthemums and glimmering stars.


End file.
